Blogs by Charlie

  • Sensory sensitivity to noise

    #AutismAcceptanceWeek Yesterday I was completely taken down by my sensory sensitivity to noise. For me, noise sensitivity is not about volume, but I get easily overwhelmed by different competing noises and sometimes by certain frequencies e.g. the low rumble of the air conditioning in the office. Yesterday the competing noises were my daughters playing Minecraft Read more

  • Day 1 Home-working while home-educating

    Day 1 Home-working and home-educating 23 March 2020 “I’ve got this all figured out”, I thought. “This will be a piece of cake. I am only part-time, and I am lucky to have my husband (a musician) around every day to help…” First up I Skyped my line manager about temporarily changing my hours to start Read more

  • Anxiety and bereavement

    I’m struggling with anxiety again, even though I felt strong over the weekend. Example 1: When our cat Ermy goes out for longer than usual, then there’s a post on the village Facebook page about a cat that has been run over. My immediate thoughts “Ermy is not coming back this time. My daughters are Read more

  • Rant about NHS mental health support

    Please just indulge me this rant, without any overwhelming flurry of concerned personal messages. I’m basically OK today, and about to get stuck into some rock painting. This rant concerns NHS mental health services for adults in my area (Worcestershire). In the months following my son’s death last April, I realised I require some specialist Read more

  • Unsolicited advice from supposed neurotypical

    Last June I was on the train to London. I was disorganised, panicking that I’d forgotten my phone charger, rooting flustered through every pocket of my laptop bag, awkwardly asking the management consultant type opposite me if I had dropped my credit card (which was actually safe in my coat pocket). Later he asked me Read more

  • Making the Stonewall Top 100 Inclusive Employers List

    What it means to me that my employer made it into the Stonewall Top 100: I have always been passionate about diversity and inclusion, partly because I am #autistic and bisexual and hence I identify as a member of an intersectional minority group. In our family there are gay, bisexual and gender-fluid young people, some Read more